[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Adams 4-22-1985 as Article 21. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
NEW GOODS, WARES AND MERCHANDISE
Includes all goods, wares and merchandise not previously sold at retail.
PUBLIC AUCTION SALES
The offering for sale or selling of new goods, wares or merchandise to the highest bidder or offering for sale or selling of new goods, wares, or merchandise at a high price and then offering the same at successive lower prices until a buyer is secured.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to sell, dispose of, or offer for sale at public auction in the Village of Adams any new goods, wares or merchandise, unless such person, firm or corporation; or the owners of such new goods, wares, or merchandise to be offered for sale or sold if such are not owned by the vendors, shall have first secured a license as herein provided and shall have complied with the other requirements of this chapter herein set forth, or unless such person, firm or corporation shall have been in business continuously in the Village of Adams as a wholesale or retail merchant at the same location at which said auction is conducted for a period of six months preceding such auction.
Any person, firm or corporation desiring to offer any new goods, wares or merchandise for sale at public auction shall file application for a license for that purpose with the Village Clerk. The application shall be filed not less than 10 full days prior to the date the said auction is to be held. The application shall state the following facts:
A. 
The name, residence, and post office address of the person, firm or corporation making the application, and if a firm or corporation, the name and address of the members of the firm, or officers of the corporation, as the case may be.
B. 
The name, residence and post office address of the auctioneer who will conduct such sale.
C. 
The dates on which said auction will be held.
A. 
At the time of filing said application, and as a part thereof, the applicant shall file and deposit with said Village Clerk a bond, with sureties to be approved by the Village Clerk, in the penal sum of two times the value of the merchandise proposed to be offered for sale at public auction as shown by a detailed inventory, running to the Village of Adams, and for the use and benefit of any purchaser of any such new goods, wares, or merchandise at the said auction who might have a cause of action of any nature arising from or out of a sale or sales at such auction or against the applicant or against the auctioneer; the said bond shall be further conditioned on the payment by the applicant of all taxes that may be payable by or due from the applicant, the payment of any fines that may be assessed by any court against the applicant or against the auctioneer for violation of the provisions of this chapter and the satisfaction of all causes of action commenced within one year from the date that such sale is made at any such auction, and arising therefrom; provided, however, that the aggregate liability of the surety for all said taxes, fines and causes of action shall in no event exceed the sum of such bond but there shall be no limitation of liability against the owners of the new goods, wares and merchandise or the auctioneer, or the applicant for the license.
B. 
In such bond, the applicant and surety shall appoint the Village Clerk the agent of the applicant and the surety for the service of process. At the time that said bond is filed and deposited with the Clerk as herein provided, the auctioneer shall appoint the said Village Clerk the agent of the auctioneer for the service of process. In the event of such service of process, the agent on whom such service is made shall, within five days after service, mail by ordinary mail a true copy of the process served upon him to each party for whom he has been served, addressed to the last known address of such party. Failure to so mail said copy shall not, however, affect the court's jurisdiction.
C. 
The Village of Adams or any person having a cause of action arising out of any sale of such new goods, wares or merchandise may join the applicant and the surety on such bond and the auctioneer in the same action, or may in such action sue either such applicant or the surety or the auctioneer alone.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
The applicant desiring to file an application with the Clerk for a license to conduct a public auction shall pay to the Village Treasurer a license fee in an amount established by resolution of the Board of Trustees.
Upon filing of such application and after the applicant has established that he has fully complied with all the provisions of this chapter, the Village Clerk shall issue to the applicant a license authorizing the said applicant to conduct a public auction as proposed in said application; such license shall not be transferable. No license shall be good for more than one person, unless such persons shall be copartners.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Every person, firm, or corporation, either as principal or agent, who shall in any manner engage in, or conduct a public auction sale without having first obtained a license as hereinbefore provided, or who shall knowingly advertise, represent, or hold forth any sale of goods, wares, or merchandise to be conducted contrary to the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of a violation of this chapter and shall upon conviction thereof shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $250, imprisonment for not more than 15 days, or both such fine and imprisonment.
The provisions of this chapter shall not extend to the sale at public auction of livestock, farm machinery or farm produce or other items commonly sold at farm sales, and to auction sales under the direction of any court or court officers as may be required by law nor shall it apply to sales made to dealers by commercial travelers or selling agents in the usual course of business nor to bona fide sale of goods, wares, and merchandise by sample for future delivery, or to sales made by sheriffs, constables or other public officers selling goods, wares, and merchandise according to law, not to bona fide assignees or receivers appointed in this state selling goods, wares, and merchandise for the benefit of creditors.
If any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such constitutionality or invalidity shall not affect the constitutionality or validity of the remaining portion or portions of the chapters.